Fire & Rain: Sweetshade, Book 2 by Delphia Baisden

Author:Delphia Baisden [Baisden, Delphia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Delphia Baisden
Published: 2023-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

Eight

The next afternoon, Sonny drove them to Nate and Jean’s house. They rode in his truck, with the local classic rock station playing.

Saturday had been a near perfect, relaxing day. They’d made love first thing, then had breakfast together. Then, as promised, he’d helped Abe move the remainder of his boxes up to the attic—mostly old mementos and things he didn’t want to get rid of. They did housework, shared their meals, and Sonny had tried his best to simply breathe and enjoy the moment.

But now, as he pulled into the Landises’ driveway and shut off his truck, he could feel his anxiousness ramping up. He wiped his hands on his jeans.

“Nervous?” Abe asked, and for a moment Sonny thought he was teasing him. But when he looked over, he saw Abe studying him.

“Maybe a little,” Sonny admitted.

Abe nodded. “I get that. But Janey wants to see you, and more importantly, she needs to. And I think you do too.”

Sonny took the keys out of the ignition and pocketed them. “You’re right. Come on.”

Abe climbed out, holding the container of homemade chocolate-chip cookies. Sonny came around to his side, and Abe held his hand on their way to the door. Abe didn’t mind—he never seemed to mind—holding his hand and reassuring him, as Sonny learned that it was okay to break that internal habit of not asking for help. Dr. Carmichael said he was supposed to lean on Abe when he needed to. So he did.

Jean let them in and took the cookies from Abe, who fake-grumbled as he handed them over.

“I’ve got regular and veggie burgers and hot dogs on the grill—well, Nate does. I was in here,” she said, leading them into the kitchen, where she’d been preparing side dishes and fixings for their meal.

“A cookout in the middle of winter,” Sonny said, shaking his head.

“Pfft,” Jean joked. “It’s fifty degrees outside and headed for sixty.”

“You’ve got Nate out there? Shit, he’s going to cook the hell out of the real meat,” Abe said.

“You grill?” Sonny asked.

“I know when a burger is going to end up a disk of carbon,” Abe retorted. “Let me go make sure he isn’t just making more charcoal out there.”

Abe found Nate outside, his back to the house. He’d seen him at work off and on throughout the past week, though he’d mostly been on leave. Understandably, Janey hadn’t been back to school until late last week, and even that was only so she could talk to the guidance counselor. Abe approached his best friend. “Nate?”

Nate turned to him before quickly turning back to the grill. “Chill out, I’m not burning your burger.”

Abe opted for humor, having seen the tension in his face. “You sure? I’m not convinced you know the difference between grilling and burning.”

“Ha-ha.”

Abe stood awkwardly beside him, hands in his pockets.

Nate said, “Aren’t you going to ask me how I am? How Janey is?”

Abe shifted from one foot to the other. “I was kinda letting this awkward silence play out a bit first.

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